Trump says ‘very bad people’ could exploit disaster in Bahamas, so he won’t relax restrictions on Dorian evacuees

Sep. 10--President Donald Trump dismissed bipartisan calls from Florida lawmakers to ease entry requirements for people fleeing Hurricane Dorian's devastation in the Bahamas, saying "totally proper documentation" is needed to ensure "very bad people" don't come to the United States.

Florida lawmakers have urged Trump to waive some visa requirements to help expedite evacuation efforts. Confusion has flourished over documentation requirements, with dozens of people in Freeport being ordered off a ferry bound for Fort Lauderdale Sunday night because they didn't have visas.

Trump told reporters Monday on the White House lawn the federal government needs to be "very careful" because some people in the Bahamas aren't in the island nation legally and could be dangerous.

"I don't want to allow people that weren't supposed to be in the Bahamas to come into the United States, including some very bad people and some very bad gang members and some very, very bad drug dealers," he said. "We are going to be very, very strong on that."

The Bahama islands are home to a large number of Haitians, who have faced discrimination and scorn. Posts denigrating Haitians and blaming them for looting and violence have been a frequent theme after Dorian.

Trump's comments appeared to contradict what acting Customs and Border Protection head Mark Morgan had said earlier in the day.

"This is a humanitarian mission," Morgan told reporters during a news conference. "If your life is in jeopardy and you're in the Bahamas and you want to get to the United States, you're going to be allowed to come to the United States, whether you have travel documents or not."

While processing would be expedited, the vetting process would not be abandoned entirely, he said.

U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, along with 18 Florida members of Congress, have asked Trump to suspend some visa requirements because of the devastation in the islands. Scott issued a statement Monday demanding clarification on the rules for Bahamians seeking refuge in the United States.

"We cannot have the kind of confusion that happened last night in Freeport," he said.

While not addressing Trump's comments, Scott tweeted later in the day that he was pleased that Customs and Border Protection had agreed to accommodate Bahamians.

Rubio tweeted that he would like more flexibility for Bahamians who might have lost documents in the hurricane, but "the narrative the U.S. is denying entry to victims of a storm" is false.

On Sunday night, dozens of evacuees were kicked off a Balearia Caribbean ferry because they didn't have visas, despite being under the impression they needed only a passport and police record showing a clean criminal history.

Officials with Customs and Border Protection blamed Balearia Caribbean. They said they asked for the ship to proceed to Nassau, where passengers could obtain visas, and then journey to Fort Lauderdale. Instead, the ship's crew ordered passengers without visas to disembark, officials said.

Balearia Caribbean released a statement on Monday night, saying it made the government aware of its plans.

"We regret and apologize for the hardship and inconvenience experienced by the 119 passengers who are residents from Grand Bahama Island who could not be transported yesterday, Sunday, September 8," the company said. "We boarded these passengers with the understanding that they could travel to the United States without visas, only to later having been advised that in order to travel to Ft. Lauderdale they required prior in-person authorization from the immigration authorities in Nassau."

Bahamians flying to the United States can travel without a visa if they have a passport and a police report showing a clean criminal record, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's website. Customs officials said people traveling by boat do need a visa.

Nearly 1,500 Hurricane Dorian survivors arrived at the Port of Palm Beach aboard a cruise ship on Saturday and were processed without incident, Customs officials said. The agency is urging humanitarian missions to coordinate with U.S. and Bahamian government officials before evacuating Dorian survivors.

Port directors have the discretion to issue humanitarian or medical waivers to travelers on a case-by-case basis, said Stephen Sapp, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The U.S. government is working with The Bahamas to settle storm survivors in parts of the island nation that weren't hit hard by Hurricane Dorian, Trump said.

But state Rep. Shevrin Jones, a Democratic lawmaker with family in the Bahamas, said the small nation of roughly 400,000 people doesn't have the resources to handle all of the evacuees.

"We just turned around these individuals to nothing," he said. "They have nowhere to go."

Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida has asked for the Bahamas to be granted Temporary Protected Status, which allows foreign nationals to work and live in the United States if they have been hurt by war or natural disasters. Ten countries have the status, including Haiti, which received TPS after the 2010 earthquake.

Speaking to reporters in Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis declined to weigh in on immigration requirements for Bahamians, saying it is something to be handled by the federal government. While the federal government does handle immigration, DeSantis' predecessor -- now Sen. Rick Scott -- mobilized state resources to assist Puerto Ricans fleeing the U.S. territory after Hurricane Maria in 2017.

"I can tell you the president and the Bahamian government, none of them want to try to facilitate a big migration," DeSantis said. "They believe that it should be something that should be dealt with in the Bahamas, and I think that that makes sense as well."

State Rep. Al Jacquet, D-Riviera Beach, called on DeSantis to develop an action plan for helping Bahamians in Florida and coordinating relief efforts.

The Port of Palm Beach sent a letter to DeSantis asking for him to approve $9 million in emergency funding needed to use The Bahamas Paradise cruise ship for the next 30 days as a charter vessel to deliver humanitarian supplies.

Staff writers Gray Rohrer and Tonya Alanez contributed to this report.

Skyler Swisher can be reached at [email protected], 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher.

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